Having failed in stand-up comedy and marriage counseling, Karen turned to the world of special education theatre. The driving force behind her business model is advertising on Facebook as well as attacking special education teachers and assessment staff in IEP meetings. I've worked with her for years and I know how she and other so-called special education advocates operate. Karen bad mouths school staff in IEP meeting to impress the needy, uninformed, unstable, distraught or confused parent. She puts up a front to show how "ruthless" she can be, that she will "fight for your child's right to a free and appropriate public education". In actuality these are all platitudes. It's all a joke and she does not really care one ounce. In essence Karen channels a parent's irrational ire towards the special education staff. What the parents don't know is Karen and the special education administrators secretly have private conversations away from the IEP meetings. They both agree ahead of time to allow Karen to harass the employees, and they go to meetings to allow Karen to attack the school staff and teachers. The administrators then come in and say things like "Oh we will give you this and that now, Mr. and Mrs. Confused and Angry Parent. This was a bad teacher/SLP/school psychologist/occupational therapist". Then Karen gets to look like the hero to the parents. In turn the administrators get to look like a hero to their school board and superintendent for not letting the IEP meeting go to Due Process and costing the district an arm and a leg. The consequence for such recklessness? Teachers and other staff end up quitting due to the frustration of extra needless bureaucracy and the blame game. That's why there are always shortages of special education staff. Staff go through the endless loop of Recycle, Reuse, Repeat. The cycle continues and nothing of merit actually changes. Karen and the school administration knows the things she pushes for is complete nonsense, but will do anything to feed her desire for validation and to feel important and needed. But every once in a while the schools fight back and don't allow the Karens of the world to screw around. Case in point is this legal decision where Conroe ISD called Karen out on her mess and took it all the way to a Due Process Hearing. https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/305-SE-0616_Conroe.pdf In the end "Special education boss" Karen Mayer Cunningham got wrecked and laughed out of court when they showed that what she pushes for all the time is without merit. Her usual (fake) gripes are about placement, eligibility, IEEs, and services. Regardless, Conroe ISD lost a ton of money on legal fees defending what was right. The deck is truly stacked against schools in this lopsided world, and the ones who end up losing are the school staff and the students. But the Conroe ISD Due Process case is extremely rare and out of the ordinary. Business as usual for schools are pseudo-contentious IEP meetings where Karen gets the satisfaction of giving an appearance that she was a catalyst for change. The school administrators on the other hand get to save the school from exorbitant legal fees. They're really in on it together and both could not care less about the school staff or the special needs students. read more

Karen Mayer Cunningham pushes for unverified treatments for children, such as vision therapy and facilitated communication. I get an uneasy feeling working with her because she sleezes her way into relevancy - she's just doing it for marketing. She charges over $200 by the hour, so she is trying to drag meetings on as much as possible and to convince parents she is doing something useful. Often times Karen is just negotiating with school administrators to throw their teachers and employees under the bus in exchange for her appeasing parents, often times giving the child unwarranted treatments/placement. One example is her pushing for CCISD to place a child with severe cognitive impairments into the general education classroom, when he really should be in an alternative academics lifeskills setting. If the teachers and school evaluation staff doesn't give Karen what she wants then she'll just game the system to have her own 'evaluators' like Deann O'Lenick, Christine Roman-Lantzy, and the Stewart Center to agree with her. These so called 'independent' evaluators need to justify their exorbitant fees and need to repeat business so they just give Karen Cunningham whatever she asks for. Stay clear of Karen and keep your money in your wallet. If you ever do work with her, just please be sure to get an itemized receipt in the event Karen finally gets audited from the IRS for not paying her taxes. read more

Special Education Boss only pretends to care about your child. She's just in the business of promoting herself by trying to impress rich parents. Her goal is to get more business, promote her SpecialEducationBoss brand, sell expensive seminars, sell cheaply made products on her website, and now she's trying to sell healthcare products (Alovea). She could not make it as an unlicensed marital counselor so now she's doing this. She also could not do so well selling Autism "cures" under the guise of her Christian faith and exorcisms (Youtube and Google her. I can't make this stuff up). Myself as a Christian and someone who has devoted the last few years to serving children with Autism, I find Karen Mayer Cunningham's business tactics and ethics nothing short of despicable. Also, it looks like she might not be paying her taxes for the last several years on the money she's making on parents, but that's a story for another day. read more

Mrs. Cunningham made egregiously wrong comments and recommendations, based on unsubstantiated legal interpretations (think of Sovereign Citizens mixed with aggressive mlm). I worry my child's administrators did not pursue charges or hold her accountable because they were afraid of legal costs, but this ends up hurting students and staff. Her facts and recommendations were often outdated based on research from the 70s. The only good that happened was her presence invited other administrators, but this only gave the impression of seriousness and didn't lead to anything for my kid. Worse is her vague charging mechanism of ~$200 per hour, and she charges for laughable "research" hours. She also rounds up. read more

I find this woman's lack of knowledge, coupled with her arrogance and penchant for theatrics, insulting to the education profession. She lacks basic foundational knowledge about assessments, PLAAFPs, and social-emotional insights into building trust and fostering productive relationships necessary for true advocacy. A simple Google search shows she is an unlicensed marital therapist, failed stand-up comedian, failed multi-level business owner, uncredentialed advocate, part time exorcist, and self-published author of a book wholly written using artificial intelligence. Jack of all trades, and master of none. Her careers have all been built on a lack of accountability. read more

I have a daughter with autism who has been a blessing to my family. I have navigated her journey as a student with autism and now as an adult with care and advocacy for her. To hear this advocate state that she was a curse breaks my heart. I really hope that parents find advocates who actually care about their child and less about a paycheck and discord. Do your research. ( should be zero stars) read more

I'd stay away from Special Education Boss. She is disingenuous and tries her best to drag on meetings and to justify her existence by making up facts. The law and facts are not on her side. She needs to spend less time pushing for Autism cures and Alovea products and to actually read a book on special education. She can also learn a thing or two about professionalism and manners. read more

This individual posts lots of incorrect information online. As much as I would like to correct her outdated and harmful posts, I don't have the time or mental energy to watch all her rants. I don't see a strong background in educational knowledge. But what I do see is someone who aggressively advertises and needs to justify her exorbitant hourly fees (over 250 per hour). read more

Taking the money out of desperate parents' pockets. Has lost the last five due processes she filed on behalf of parents. Parents, vet your advocates before hiring them. Do they have a degree in education, law? What makes them able to handle your case? The ability to bully people doesn't make them a good advocate. Choose wisely! read more

$220.00 per hour, and all she does is pretend she knows what she's doing. Don't fall for the marketing and the hype. Her facts and knowledge about special education are outdated and harmful, as is her belief in exorcisms and praying away Autism. read more

I would give this woman 0 stars if I could. Her estimate of $220 per hour is only an estimate, and you will likely see a gross exaggeration of what constitutes an hour. Buyer beware. read more